The First Day Reincarnated as Rimuru

On the western edge of Yunlai Sea, towering, precipitous mountains stretched endlessly into the distance. Yet this formidable natural barrier was not the product of mere chance; it was the grand achievement of a god.

These mountains were known as the Tianheng Range. In days long past, when the Geo Archon Morax first descended upon this land, he raised these peaks to shield the humans who dwelled here from the relentless assault of the sea. By erecting the Tianheng Range and taming the tides, the Lord of the Rock saved the coastal tribes from certain destruction by a catastrophic tsunami. Thus, the young Morax gained the first people he would protect as his own.

From then on, under the intimidating might of Morax, monsters seldom dared approach the Tianheng Range. Even the sea’s demons and beasts grew uncharacteristically quiet for a time.

Safety allowed life to flourish. The industrious people mined stone from the crags, carved out roads, and built deer palisades from rock. Sheltered by stone, they rebuilt their human settlements.

No one could say how many days and nights passed, but the tribes near Tianheng Range gradually expanded until they reached their current, flourishing scale.

Yet this hard-won peace was shattered today by the appearance of a particularly ‘overbearing’ slime.

“So... what in the world is this place?!”

In the wilds, a blue slime—remarkably bouncy in appearance—stretched itself into all sorts of twisted shapes. “Why was I dumped in the wilderness? Did the doctors who saved me just give up?! Even if I had a stab wound in my stomach, I could have been saved, right?!”

And while he was an orphan with no one to claim his body, wasn’t it a bit much to simply toss him out in the wild?!

Outrage! He would file a complaint—no, a lawsuit!

Having just woken after the disaster of being stabbed at a comic convention, Rimuru found himself abandoned in a wasteland, not a soul in sight, let alone an ambulance or police car.

Looking up at the full moon, standing alone in the pitch-black wilderness, Rimuru was livid—almost literally about to explode with rage.

Yes, you read that right—he was quite literally about to blow his top.

On his oval-shaped head, angry cross-marks appeared as the slime puffed up into a smooth ball, bouncing up and down in frustration.

“I’m so mad! If I ever get back, I’ll sue every single one of you heartless bastards who left me for dead!”

Court! Jail!

Send them all to work the sewing machines!

With every furious bounce, dust and bits of grass flew up from the ground, making the bewildered and enraged Rimuru sneeze violently.

Perhaps unused to this strange new body, the force of the sneeze made him topple backward, rolling uncontrollably down a slope. The incline was steep, and the slime rolled faster and faster, unable to stop himself.

“Wait—why can’t I stop?!”

As the world spun rapidly before his eyes, Rimuru twisted his body in panic, trying to extend a rounded tentacle like a brake.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sense his old, long... well, his short legs.

At this point, forget legs—he didn’t even have hands!

What was going on? Where were his hands? His feet?

Had that lunatic chopped them off?!

No, that was too cruel—at least leave him a way to move!

What was the point of turning him into a limbless creature?!

The very thought made his facial features twist in a cartoonish explosion, and with a wail that echoed through the silent wilds, Rimuru burst out crying.

“I’m not even twenty yet! How did I get so unlucky? Damn that maniac, I hope you choke on ramen without the seasoning packet and your takeout is spit in!”

His complaints and curses ran together without a single punctuation—such was the extent of Rimuru’s breakdown.

No matter what he tried, he couldn’t stop rolling.

One minute passed—still rolling.

Five minutes passed—still rolling.

Ten minutes—still rolling.

As he tumbled on, his brain feeling thoroughly scrambled, Rimuru gradually adapted. Since struggle was futile, he might as well give up.

So he began to admire the rapidly spinning scenery, making mental notes as he went.

Hmm... that rock is impressively large and handsome—would make a fine decorative piece. And that tree, with fruit on it—I wonder if it’s edible.

Speaking of edible fruit... come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten much before the convention. Good grief, he was seriously craving hotpot, burgers, and barbecue!

*Slurp!* Rimuru sucked in imaginary drool.

Uh-oh, his belly wasn’t hungry but his mouth was watering—no, no, he mustn’t think about it, or he’d start drooling for real!

Wait, something was wrong—the ground felt smoother.

As the roughness beneath him faded, Rimuru realized the stony, grassy earth was giving way to soft, white sand.

Hmm, soft and fine—actually rather comfortable... Wait, sand? Had he been dumped by the sea? That was way too far! The convention was held inland, nowhere near the coast!

Okay, maybe not *that* far, but still, how long had he been unconscious? But none of that mattered now...

What mattered was—when would he finally stop rolling?!

He was about to be sick!

—Ugh!

As he rolled on, dizzy and exasperated, Rimuru vented his frustration.

No telling how long it lasted, but the moist sea breeze was growing stronger. With a splash, the slime finally rolled into the sea.

The good news: he’d stopped.

The bad news: he was about to sink.

*Glub glub...*

The gentle, salty seawater cradled Rimuru’s streamlined body, but the slight buoyancy was nowhere near enough to stop a heavy slime who’d come barreling down like a cannonball.

He was soon submerged, his surroundings darkening as he sank to the bottom, despair clutching at him.

He was going to die! After surviving that madman, now he was going to drown because of his own stupidity?

No, he refused to go out in such an embarrassing way!

“Help me! Somebody, help!”

Perhaps his desperate will to live was heard, because a voice echoed in his mind, reigniting his hope.

[Beep... beep. World analysis in progress... Connection restored. —Detected master is in trouble. Situation analyzed. Would you like to activate ‘Water Manipulation’ to escape?]

—Who’s there?!

Rimuru’s body froze, his gelatinous form jolted by the sudden voice. Wait, did it just say it could help him escape?

Without hesitation, Rimuru blurted out, “Yes, yes, yes!”

Anything—absolutely anything to get out of here!

[Understood. Activating ‘Water Manipulation’.]

The moment the voice finished, Rimuru felt the cold, unfamiliar water around him grow gentle and welcoming.

“Oh, wow! This feels amazing! Do I have superpowers now?!”

As much as he wanted to go wild with his new abilities, Rimuru remembered his earlier blunder and decided to proceed with caution.

“B-better take it one step at a time...” he muttered.

The newly empowered slime focused intently, carefully controlling the water to move himself. At first he was clumsy, but soon he mastered the art, lifting himself out of the depths.

In a flash, Rimuru shot out of the sea like a blue cannonball.

Success!

A perfect landing!

—Nice, full marks!

“Hahaha! Not bad, if I say so myself! Where’s the applause?!”

Bouncing out of the sea onto the sand, the slime rolled back and forth in triumph, as though boasting of his prowess.

‘Caw, caw—’

No one responded; only an imaginary crow flapped overhead, leaving behind a few speechless black dots.

The self-indulgent introvert (slime) coughed awkwardly. “Ahem, good thing no one saw that...”

But did anyone actually live nearby? Rimuru wondered.

[Notification: the nearest human settlement is in the southwestern mountains, at a straight-line distance of... ]

“Wait!!”

The mechanical female voice halted abruptly. [Is there a problem?]

Rimuru bounced twice. “Of course there’s a problem—lots of them!”

[Please, ask your questions.]

With the crisis over, his delayed intelligence finally kicked in. The voice in his head was awfully familiar.

“You’re the Great Sage, aren’t you? Aren’t you?!”

His slime eyes went wide with excitement—this was a world-class cheat!

So he *had* reincarnated!

It must be because he’d cosplayed as Rimuru before being stabbed, just like Satoru Mikami, that he’d been reborn as a slime!

Even his name was exactly the same—it was fate!

Images of soon meeting a tsundere Storm Dragon and all sorts of beautiful, fiercely loyal subordinates flashed through his mind, and Rimuru’s face flushed with adorable blush, his hands rubbing together in giddy anticipation.

[Notification: Negative. Unique skill ‘Great Sage’ has evolved into the ultimate skill ‘Raphael, King of Wisdom’.]

“I see! So you’ve already evolved into Raphael—that explains why you sound so human... Wait, Raphael?!”

A giant question mark popped above Rimuru’s head. “That’s not right! I’ve just reincarnated as a slime—I haven’t even met the Storm Dragon yet! How did I skip straight to Season Two?!”

[Notification—]

But before Raphael could explain, another thought struck Rimuru.

“If Great Sage has evolved, then... does that mean I don’t need to eat Miss Shizu’s body to become human?!”

Without delay, the slime stretched his body, gradually shifting into a human form—naked, of course.

Rimuru looked down at his two pale hands and marveled, “Wow, it really works...”

Before he could further examine his unfamiliar body, Raphael’s urgent warning blared in his mind.

[Alert! Emergency! A powerful high-level geo-elemental lifeform is rapidly approaching!]

“Huh?”

Rimuru tilted his head in confusion. “Geo-elemental lifeform?”

Wasn’t this world’s energy called ‘magicules’? And... the term ‘geo-element’ sounded oddly familiar, like he’d heard it somewhere before.

As Rimuru racked his brain for the memory, a sharp object trailing golden light shot toward him at incredible speed.

“What’s that—a meteor shaped like a stick? How unusual...”

He looked up at the golden streak, curiosity on his face, until it came hurtling straight at him.

“No way, is that thing coming for me?!”